Short, careful answers to the questions we are asked most.

Any individual living in the wards of Eastham, Tenbury, Eastham village, the parish village, or Eastham — together with the adjoining lanes of the parish. We do not require a referral, a council form, a doctor's letter, or any minimum income threshold; what we ask is a brief description of the difficulty you are facing.

No. The Trust does not means-test in the conventional sense. We look at the practical difficulty you are facing and the help that would most usefully fit. Most of our Small Grants Fund grants are paid to households who are on a low income but who are not necessarily receiving the full range of benefits they may be entitled to. Our caseworkers can also help you check.

By long-standing convention, the Trust accepts cases from the adjoining lanes of the parish. Beyond those, we do not work outside our ward boundary. Other welfare trusts hold neighbouring parishes and we will be glad to refer you to whichever is appropriate — please ring 01584 781237.

The Small Grants Fund typically pays for heating bills, fuel vouchers, replacement white goods, school uniforms, council-tax arrears (rarely), bus passes, emergency food, and small one-off purchases like a kettle, a microwave, or a clothes airer. Our Carer Relief pays for short breaks, garden tidies, replacement appliances, or anything else a carer says will help them keep going. The small parish grant pays for apprenticeship-related expenses for 14–24 year olds.

Our Beneficiary Charter promises a Small Grants Fund decision within five working days of a complete application. In emergencies (e.g. a frozen meter on a Friday afternoon, a fleeing-domestic-violence grant, an immediate utility cut-off) we will decide on the same day, frequently within two hours of a phone call. the Mobility & Equipment fund bursaries are decided within ten working days. Carer Relief grants are decided within five working days.

No. Most applications begin with a fifteen-minute conversation on the phone, a Wednesday drop-in chat with one of our caseworkers, or — for older neighbours — a home visit. We may ask you to confirm a small number of details (your address, the name of an energy company, the date of a hospital appointment), but we deliberately do not require a long written application.

No. You can ring or write to us directly. We accept referrals from many local partners (Worcestershire County Council, GP surgeries, schools, churches and community groups) but a referral is never required. If you would prefer a neighbour or family member to call on your behalf, that is also fine.

If we cannot help, we will say so in plain English — usually in writing within five working days, or on the phone if you prefer — and we will tell you what else might. We know the landscape of local support in the Teme valley, and we will signpost you to whichever organisation, grant, or scheme is most likely to be useful. If we have refused you and you disagree with the decision, you can write to the Chair, Rev Julia Curtis, who will review and respond within ten working days.

Roughly 80% of our volunteers do live in the parish — but it is not a requirement. Several volunteers live in Wallasey, Heswall, and Liverpool city centre. We do prefer volunteers who can commit reasonably reliably to a Tuesday morning, Saturday morning, or Wednesday afternoon — because what makes our programmes work is people turning up again and again, over years.

Most roles ask for between one and four hours a week. The Friendly Check-in caller role is two calls, twenty minutes each, every week. The the Practical Recovery Aid programme asks for a three-hour shift on alternate Wednesdays or Saturdays. Quiet Visits listener role is more intensive — four hours every other Tuesday plus a six-monthly listening-skills refresher. We do not run one-off volunteering days; the work is too relational.

Roughly four weeks. A two-hour welcome evening on the first Thursday of the month, a forty-minute chat with our Volunteer Co-ordinator the following week, two character references, and (for some roles) a free Enhanced DBS check which takes about three weeks to come back. Once you have started, you will be paired with a buddy for the first three months — somebody who has been doing the role for at least two years and whom you can ring at any time.

Yes — at any time, for any reason, with no explanation expected and no awkwardness from our side. We would always rather you stopped, briefly, than struggled on. Many of our volunteers take six- or twelve-month breaks (for a new job, a new baby, an illness, or simply for rest) and pick the work back up afterwards.

In 2024–25, 94p of every £1 we received reached a programme or grant. The remaining 6p covered our overheads — rent, audit, insurance, software and the kettle. This figure is consistently between 92 and 95 pence each year, and is reported in detail in our annual report.

Yes — there is a programme picker on the donate page with all eight programmes listed. We would gently note that 'where most needed' is, in our experience, the most useful selection — because it gives our trustees the flexibility to apply the gift where the next pressing need lies.

Yes — emphatically. If you are a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid adds 25p to every £1 you donate, at no cost to you. In 2024–25, Gift Aid added £42,800 to the Trust's income — equivalent to 196 same-week Heating & Warmth Aid grants, the full Carer Relief, or the spring 2025 the Mobility & Equipment fund budget.

You can, and we are grateful. Legacies are added to our small endowment rather than spent in the year they are received, so that they generate income for the work over many decades. We do not employ a legacy fundraiser, and we will not write to elderly donors about their wills. If you wish to make a bequest, your solicitor can ring us for our registered name, number and suggested wording.

The Trust is governed by the trustees, all serving as volunteers. No trustee is paid; expenses are reimbursed only on submission of a receipt. The Chair is Rev Julia Curtis (appointed January 2019). The current trustees are listed on our About page.

All annual reports and accounts since 2010 are available on our Annual Reports page and on the Charity Commission's public register under charity number 220017. We can also post you a hard copy of any report first class if you ring 01584 781237.

As little as possible, for as short a time as possible. Our data-handling is detailed in our privacy policy. Our beneficiary records are paper-based, kept locked in the trustees' cabinet at Hockerills, and routinely shredded after six years (or sooner if requested). We never share beneficiary data with statutory partners, including Worcestershire County Council, without your written consent.